Red Box Bungled

Looking The Gift Horse In The Mouth

8

JAN/11

After a good nights rest the party decides to find some more information out about the Blessing that has been placed on the black horse they had previously acquired. Heading east out of Fallcrest on Kings Road they make it to a small house to see a Dwarven Runemaster practicing his craft. A breief exchange of words reveals that the Runemaster is willing to help them determine the nature of the blessing on the horse in exchange for the retrieval of his favorite blacksmithing hammer. The hammer had recently being stolen by a band of Kobolds while the Dwarf was tending to business matters in Fallcrest. The small group also learns that this particular group of Kobolds have been pestering passing by travelers and merchants.

Heading off in search of the den, the group soon notices a lightly worn path running off the main road in a southeastern direction just as the Dwarven Runemaster had described. Travenkhal uses his natural prowess to scout the trail and try to see what lies ahead.

Travenkhal notices an unusual gathering of leaves to reveal a 5ft long pit that leads to a bunch of crudely sharpened wooden spears. Carefully clearing the leaves away from the pit so his friends are sure to notice the danger, he continuing alone past the pit. Travenkhal is only able to see two Kobolds standing guard at the mouth of the den. Making his way back to inform Dara & Nala of his findings the group decides that they need a bit more information about the number of Kobolds inside the den and urge the stealthy Travenkhal to continue scouting.

Keeping his movements quiet and finding an alternate path to discern the number of Kobolds in the den, Travenkhal is able to spot three shadows inside the mouth of the cave. Meanwhile Dara & Nala are readying themselves back down the path to ambush the Kobolds as Travenkhal is planning to make a surprise attack on the Kobold guards and run back to his friends acting as bait for the two guards. Nala jumps the pit and hides in the bush while Dara stays on the other side of the pit and ducks into the brush as cover. Travenkhal meanwhile sets his sights on the two posted Kobold guards with his Shiruken. Launching one completely past the guards and into the bushes he manages to keep from alerting the Kobold guards and attempts the shot again. Our dextrous Halfling however snags his arm ever so slightly on a branch while releasing his second Shiruken and it clatters loudly off the den entrance immediately alerting the guards. Travenkhal darts off back towards his fellow adventurers with the two guards hot on his trail. Swiftly and gracefully clearing the cleared pit he runs right past Dara. The Kobolds both manage to clear the pit trap and Dara pops out of the bush to crack one of the Kobolds square in the chest knocking it backwards into the Kobold behind. Nala jumps the pit and starts beating on the Kobolds with Dara. Meanwhile Travenkhal has gained a few feet of distance and makes a deadly throw lodging one of his daggers into the back of a Kobold. The team dispatches the second Kobold and is immediately met with an angry charge of three more from the mouth of the Kobold den.

While the Kobolds are mid jump in their attempt to clear the pit our group decides to see if they can pick one off. Some damaging shots are made but they are unable to take any of the Kobolds out before melee combat resumes. Nala lets her Dragonbreath fly and is able to soak the Kobold’s armor with acid. All three adventures decide to concentrate their efforts on one Kobold at a time and quickly dispatch the entire group.

Taking a quick rest to catch their breath and grab the throwing weapons that were unable to find their targets our small band decides to venture further into the cave. The group decides to make a crude bridge over the pit using the bodies of the Kobolds they have just dispatched and enters the Kobold den. Travenkhal acting as scout is able to notice the feint outline of a bow and arrow in the distance. Heading back to tell his party members what he has spotted Travenkhal steps on a trigger plate and hears a slight click come from the back of the cave, no sooner than he realizes what has just occured is there an arrow lodged in the back of Travenkhal‘s shoulder. Travenkhal rips the crudely crafted arrow out while running back to his combat companions. Dara & Nala hear the trigger of the trap and begin to make their way around the corner of the cave to provide their little halfling scout some assistance. After dealing with an onslaught of spear wielding Kobolds is record time the leader of this small Kobold band takes one last shot with his bow attempts to flee realizing that he is in over his head. Dara grabs one of the spears lying beside her and throws it at the Kobolds legs timing it perfectly as to cause the Kobold to come to dead stop via faceplant. Dara & Nala begin to search the backroom for the Dwarven Runemaster’s missing hammer while Travenkhal has a dagger pointed at the Kobolds throat in case it attempts to flee before they find what they want. The hammer is found lodged into a coconut and the group decide they will leave the coconut on the hammer as to demonstrate the reason for the hammer’s disappearance to the Dwarf they are retrieving it for.

Returning to the Dwarf with the hammer the better part of the day has been spent on the road. A return the following morning with the horse will allow the Dwarf enough time to prepare for the ritual, so our group heads back to Fallcrest with a little more gold from the Kobold den and renewed dislike of Kobolds. Getting their rooms for yet another night the adventurers are one step closer to learning more about the rider.